Live action role-playing game

Players dressed in character at a LARP event
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A live action role-playing game (LARP) is a form of role-playing game where the participants physically act out their characters' actions. The first LARPs were run in the late 1970s, inspired by role-playing games and genre fiction. The activity gained international popularity during the 1980s.

LARP groups have highly varied approaches to rules, costume, degree of physical acting out, participation, focus of character activity, and genre. LARPs range in size from small private events lasting a few hours to huge public events with thousands of players lasting for several days.

Contents

Terminology

LARP has also been referred to as live role-playing (LRP), interactive literature, freeform role-playing, interactive drama (indrama), and wide game. Some of these terms are still in common use, however LARP has become the most commonly accepted term.[1] It is sometimes written in lowercase, as larp. The live action in LARP is analogous to the term live action used in film and video to differentiate works with human actors from animation.

Play overview

Players physically portray characters in a fictional setting, improvising their characters' speech and movements somewhat like actors in improvisational theatre. This is distinct from tabletop role-playing games where character actions are described verbally.[2] The setting, characters, and rules may be defined in a publication or created by the arrangers or players. LARPs may be played in a public or private area,[3] and may last for hours or days.[4] There is usually no audience, and bystanders are typically either ignored or treated as part of the fictional setting.[5] Players may dress as their character and carry appropriate equipment, and the environment is sometimes dressed to resemble the setting.[6] LARPs can be one-off events or a series of events in the same setting,[7] and events can vary in size from a handful of players to several thousand.[8]

The real world and the fictional setting

The LARP Bicolline uses a venue that resembles a medieval town

Player actions in the real world represent character actions in an imaginary setting.[2] Game rules, physical symbols and theatrical improvisation are used to bridge any differences between the real world and the setting. For example, a rope could signify an imaginary wall.

There is a distinction between when a player is in character (IC), meaning they are actively representing their character, and when the player is out of character (OOC), meaning they are being themselves. Some LARPs encourage players to stay consistently IC except in emergencies, while others accept players being OOC at times. Character knowledge is usually considered to be separate from player knowledge, and acting upon information a character would not know may be viewed as cheating.

LARPs can have any setting, although many use themes and settings derived from genre fiction.[9] Some LARPs borrow a setting from an established work in another medium (e.g. The Lord of the Rings or the World of Darkness), while others use settings based on the real world or designed specifically for the LARP.[10] Proprietary campaign settings, together with rulesets, are often the principal creative asset of LARP groups and LARP publishers.

Rules

Latex weapons are sometimes used in LARP combat

Some LARPs have game rules that determine how characters can affect each other and the setting. These rules may define characters' capabilities, how those capabilities can change over time, what can be done with various items in the setting, and what characters can do during the downtime between LARP events. Because referees are often not available to mediate all character actions, players are relied upon to be honest in their application of the rules. There are also LARPs that do without rules, instead relying on players to use their common sense or feel for dramatic appropriateness to cooperatively decide what the outcome of their actions will be.[11]

LARP rules are used to represent characters' actions and determine whether they succeed or not. The rules can be classified by verisimilitude, i.e. how closely the player's action resembles the fictional action being performed.[12] This difference is most clearly visible when comparing LARPs that use physical combat and those that use symbolic determination of combat. However, the same principle applies to social influence and intellectual problem solving, which can also be based on the actual skills of the player or handled by symbolic rules.

LARPs with physical combat rules use foam weapons, airsoft guns, laser tag guns and similar, to represent weapons, and are often known as boffer or live combat[13] LARPs. Sometimes relatively harmless versions of real weapons such as blunt metal swords or firearms loaded with blanks are used as representations. In LARPs with physical combat the physical skills of the player play an important role. On the other hand, symbolic rules involve momentarily pausing role-play in order to determine the outcome of an action, for example by rolling dice, playing rock-paper-scissors or comparing character attributes.[14] In symbolic combat systems weapons may be represented by cards or physical replicas. Sometimes realistic weapon props and physical contact between players are not allowed.[15]

Types of participation

Participants can be involved in a LARP in a number of ways. Events are put on for the benefit of the players, who play characters within the setting. Arrangers called gamemasters (GMs) decide the rules of play and the details of the setting before an event takes place, and facilitate the LARP while it is being played. The GMs may also do the logistical work, or there may be other arrangers who handle details such as advertising the event, booking a venue, and financial management. Participants called the crew may assist the GMs during play.

The GMs determine the fictional framework of a LARP, influence the type of interaction via the characters that they allow or author and the conflicts they place between characters, and may also affect the setting while an event is taking place. Unlike the GM in a tabletop role-playing game, a LARP GM seldom has an overview of everything that is happening during play. Numerous players may be interacting in separate physical spaces, especially at larger LARP events. For this reason a LARP GM's role is often less concerned with tightly maintaining a narrative or directly entertaining the players, and more with arranging the structure of the LARP before play begins and facilitating the players and crew to maintain the fictional environment during play.[16]

Crew members assist the gamemasters in setting up and maintaining the environment of the LARP during play, which sometimes involves playing non-player characters (NPCs). NPCs exist to make the LARP more satisfying for the players, and crew members typically receive more direction from the GMs than the players do. In a tabletop role-playing games a GM usually plays all the NPCs, whereas in a LARP each NPC is typically played by a separate crew member. Sometimes players are asked to play NPCs for periods of an event.

The players take on roles called player characters (PCs), that they may create themselves or be given by the gamemasters. Players sometimes play the same character repeatedly at separate events. Some LARPs primarily feature interaction between PCs. Others focus on interaction between PCs and aspects of the setting, such as NPCs, that are controlled by the GMs.[17]

History

Main article: History of live action role-playing games

LARP does not have a single point of origin, but was invented independently by several different groups in the late 1970s and early 1980s.[18] What these groups had in common was experience with genre fiction or tabletop role-playing games and a desire to physically experience such settings. In addition to tabletop role-playing, LARP was preceded and possibly influenced by childhood games of pretend, play fighting, costume parties, roleplay simulations, Commedia dell’arte, improvisational theatre, psychodrama, military exercises, and historical reenactment groups.[19]

The earliest recorded LARP group is the physical combat Dagorhir Outdoor Improvisational Battle Games, founded in 1977 in Washington, DC, USA.[20] Soon after the release of the movie Logan's Run in 1976, rudimentary live role-playing games based on the movie were run at many US science fiction conventions.[21] In 1981 the physical combat International Fantasy Games Society (IFGS) started, with rules influenced by Dungeons & Dragons. IFGS was named after a fictional group in the 1981 novel Dream Park, which described futuristic LARPs.[22] In 1982 the Society for Interactive Literature, a predecessor of LARPA, formed as the first recorded theatre-style LARP group in the US.[23]

LARP quickly appeared internationally following the growing popularity of role-playing games in the 1980s. Treasure Trap, formed in 1982 at Peckforton Castle,[24] was the first recorded LARP game in the UK and influenced many of the physical combat fantasy LARPs that followed there.[25] In 1983 the first recorded LARP in Australia was run, a freeform event in the science fiction Traveller setting.[26] In 1993 White Wolf, Inc released Mind's Eye Theatre: The Masquerade which is still played internationally and is probably the most commercially successful published LARP.[27]

Today LARP is a popular activity in North America,[28] Europe, Russia and Australasia. Large games with thousands of participants are run by for-profit companies, various LARP books are published and an increasingly professional industry sells costume, armour, and foam weapons intended primarily for LARP.[29]

Common styles

LARP rules and play cover a wide variety of different styles that blend into each other. There are some categorizations that are widely used and in broad terms help identify shared expectations for a game.

Avant-garde

Common in the Nordic countries[30] but also present elsewhere, avant-garde or arthaus LARPs are eclectic events using experimental themes and techniques. Avante-garde LARPs have high culture aspirations, and are occasionally held in fine art contexts such as festivals, art museums or theatres. The themes, settings and characters of avante-garde LARPs are usually relevant to real-world issues of politics, culture, religion, sexuality and the human condition.

A physical combat LARP battle at a Lorien Trust fest event

Fest

A fest (short for festival) LARP has hundreds of participants, usually split into competing character factions camped separately around a large venue. There are relatively few fests in the world, all based in the UK, Europe, and Canada, however their size means that they have a significant influence on local LARP culture and design.

Linear

Some LARP events feature a small group of PCs facing a series of challenges from NPCs. Such linear events are often more tightly planned and controlled by GMs than other styles of LARP. The International Fantasy Games Society calls such events line-courses.[31]

Pervasive

Pervasive LARPs mingle fiction with modern reality in a fashion similar to Alternate Reality Games.[32][33] Bystanders who are unaware that a game is taking place may be treated as part of the fictional setting. In-character materials such as websites may be actually hosted on the internet with fictional people registered as the creators.

Theatre-style/freeform

A theatre style LARP taking advantage of a decorated room at COSI Columbus.

Theatre-style or freeform LARPs are characterised by symbolic combat, an eclectic approach to genre and setting, and a focus on interaction between characters that are written by the gamemasters. They are sometimes played at gaming conventions, which they suit well as they typically only last a few hours and require relatively little preparation by players.

Youth LARPs

Youth LARPs are intended for children and young people. Some are run through institutions such as schools, churches, or the Scouts. Denmark has an especially high number of fantasy and medieval youth LARPs.[34] Other varieties of youth LARP include some set in the Harry Potter universe.

Common genres

LARPs can be in any genre, however certain genres are especially common.

Espionage

Espionage LARPs are inspired by spy fiction. Some leverage the real world as a venue or real player identities as characters in a manner similar to Assassin or alternate reality games. These usually avoid physical combat and real-looking weapons which could attract unwanted attention from the public and authorities.

Fantasy

Fantasy genre LARPs are set in pseudo-historical worlds inspired by fantasy literature and fantasy role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons. These settings typically have magic, fantasy races, and limited technology. Many fantasy LARPs use physical combat and focus on adventure and/or competition between character factions. Fantasy is one of the most common LARP genres internationally, and is the genre that the largest events use.[35]

Historical

LARP with a Victorian setting

Historical LARPs take place in our world, at some point in history. They can vary from a 1930s murder mystery to a feudal Japanese Samurai story. Historical accuracy, in both fictional content and physical props and costume, is often prized in these LARPs, and there are similarities with Historical reenactment.

Horror

Horror LARPs often use horror fiction as inspiration. LARPs with a horror theme can be set in any era, often crossing over historical or science fiction genres. Common sub-genres include zombie apocalypse and Cthulhu Mythos, sometimes using the published Cthulhu Live rules.

Military simulation

Military simulation (mil-sim) LARPs focus on military operations, often in modern or futuristic settings. Many include live combat with laser tag, airsoft or paintball markers. Some mil-sims have a hard-core approach and attention to detail that resembles police exercises or war games conducted by the military. Players may take on combat roles or play non-combatants such as civilians or VIPs.

World of Darkness

Main article: World of Darkness

Published by White Wolf, Inc., this is a goth-punk setting in which players usually portray secretive supernatural creatures such as vampires and werewolves. This setting can be played using Mind's Eye Theatre, which is a relatively complex symbolic LARP system also published by White Wolf. These LARPs are usually played in a chronicle, a series of short events held at regular intervals, and are also popular at conventions. An international chronicle is run by White Wolf's official fan club the Camarilla. The World of Darkness is one of the most commonly-used LARP settings internationally.

Mythology

Mythology LARPs are set in a semi-historical era with legendary aspects of that time. For example, a Celtic mythology LARP might include features of Celtic myth such as Druids with powers from the gods and goddesses, or legendary creatures and monsters such as the Tuatha Dé Danann or the banshee.

Science fiction

Science fiction LARPs take place in futuristic settings with high technology and possibly extraterrestrial life, but usually without supernatural themes. This describes a broad array of LARPs, including politically themed LARPs depicting dystopian or utopian societies, combat-oriented events played with laser tag weaponry, and settings inspired by cyberpunk, space opera and post-apocalyptic fiction. Official rules have also been published for popular science fiction settings such as Star Wars.[36]

See also

Lists
LARP conventions
Related activities
Movies

Notes

  1. ↑ (Tychsen et al. 2006:255) "LARP ... is the commonly accepted term in the gaming community."
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 (Tychsen et al. 2006:255) "LARPs can be viewed as forming a distinct category of RPG because of two unique features: (a) The players physically embody their characters, and (b) the game takes place in a physical frame. Embodiment means that the physical actions of the player are regarded as those of the character. Whereas in a RPG played by a group sitting around a table, players describe the actions of their characters (e.g., “I run to stand beside my friend”); in an equivalent situation in a LARP, a player would physically run to the appropriate point within the game space."
  3. ↑ Salen, Katie; Zimmerman, Eric (2003). Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals. The MIT Press. ISBN 0262240459. "Live-Action Role-Playing Games can take place in indoor or outdoor settings, in private or public spaces.". 
  4. ↑ Widing, Gabriel (2008). "We Lost Our World and Made New Ones: Live Role-Playing in Modern Times". in Markus Montola, Jaakko Stenros. Playground Worlds. Ropecon ry. ISBN 978-952-92-3579-7. "...the participants sustain these temporary worlds for a few hours or several days". 
  5. ↑ (Falk & Davenport 2004:128) "...live role-playing games are devoid of the audience concept."
  6. ↑ (Falk & Davenport 2004:131) "The LRP player, like a stage actor, is a person who under-goes a transformation into a character. The character’s costume and accessories, or kit, aids this transformation ... Physical structures may be used as game locations, and sometimes even purposely constructed to enhance the game world ... Players frequently use physical artifacts as props and tools in their role-play, primarily to back up their character roles."
  7. ↑ (Tychsen et al. 2006:259) "Most LARPs are either scenarios (or single-shots) or campaigns (also known as chronicles)"
  8. ↑ (Tychsen et al. 2006:258) "Games range in size from a handful to more than 4,000 players"
  9. ↑ (Falk & Davenport 2004:129) "All LRP games of our definition take place within an agreed upon theme or narrative setting that provides the context for players’ actions and character roles. This theme can be pretty much anything you can imagine; the possibilities are inexhaustible. To give some obvious and common examples, it may be fantasy and involve magic, heroes, and fantastic creatures, much like the game world settings of the classic tabletop role-playing games. Or, it may be realistic, based on historic events or contemporary life. Or it can be futuristic post apocalyptic environments, involving mutants and cyborgian characters dwelling in deserted cities. Or, it can be any combination of these"
  10. ↑ (Tychsen et al. 2006:261) "The world setting or framework for the fictional world in which the game takes place varies greatly in LARPs. Generally, these can be divided into either real-world settings or fictional settings."
  11. ↑ (Tychsen et al. 2006:255) "...a LARP can be very similar to improvisational theater, with only a few guidelines for rules and a very low-powered GM."
  12. ↑ (Young 2003:7) The Mechanics Axis
  13. ↑ (Young 2003:7) The Mechanics Axis
  14. ↑ (Young 2003:8) The Mechanics Axis
  15. ↑ For example, the Mind's Eye Theatre system forbids realistic looking weapons and contact. From the "Basic Rules" section: "#1 - No Touching. This means none whatsoever, even with consent ... #2 - No weapons as props ... real weapons or anything that even looks like a real weapon ... are a definite no-no." (Dansky 1996. p136, "Appendix")
  16. ↑ Tychsen, Anders; Hitchens, Michael; Brolund, Thea; Kavakli, Manolya (2005). "The Game Master". The Second Australasian Conference on Interactive Entertainment: 215-222, Creativity and Cognition Studios Press. Retrieved on 2008-12-03. "[As a result of having many players interacting in various locations in unpredictable ways the GM is] forced to let go of the game and let it take on a life of its own outside his or her control. While based on similar principles, the requirements [are] therefore very different in practice from GMs in PnP RPGs... The GM is generally, unless the LARP is small in terms of number of participants, not responsible for keeping the narrative flow. The GM can however oversee the progress of the game and help or influence where needed... Establishing a hierachy of GMs and NPCs to monitor the game and ensure everyone is entertained and activated within the shared game space is a typical way of controlling large fantasy LARPS. This structure is usually established before the game commences." 
  17. ↑ (Young 2003:11) The Interaction Axis
  18. ↑ (Tychsen et al. 2006:256) "LARPs ... appear to have developed based on inspiration from tabletop RPGs such as Dungeons & Dragons, more or less simultaneously in North America, Europe, and Australia sometime during the early 80s. Players from all of these continents claim to have hosted the oldest LARP, however, it appears that LARPs developed independently and with marked cultural differences."
  19. ↑ Morton, Brian (2007). "Larps and their Cousins through the Ages". in Donnis, Gade & Thorup (PDF). Lifelike. Knudepunkt 2007. http://www.liveforum.dk/kp07book/lifelike_web.pdf. Retrieved on 2008-05-21. 
  20. ↑ Dagorhir. "The Origins of Dagorhir" (HTML). Dagorhir website. Retrieved on 2007-07-28.
  21. ↑ Muir, John Kenneth. "Logan's Run: The Series" (HTML). John Kenneth Muir website. Retrieved on 2007-10-19.
  22. ↑ IFGS. "History of the IFGS" (HTML). IFGS website. Retrieved on 2007-07-29.
  23. ↑ Olmstead-Dean, Gordon (1998). "Theatre Style Live Roleplaying Events". LARP Writing.org. Retrieved on 2008-05-29. "In 1982, Walt Frietag and some friends at Harvard University "invented" what they called "interactive literature."... Frietag called his group the "Harvard Society for Interactive Literature," which was shortened to "Society for Interactive Literature" the next year."
  24. ↑ "Rob's Bit". Peckforton Post (Treasure Trap) 1. http://www.treasuretrap.net/TTPhoto/displayimage.php?album=4&pos=12. Retrieved on 2007-07-28. 
  25. ↑ Hook, Nathan (2006-06-05), "The History of UK LARP", The LARP Magazine Newsletter 2, http://www.larpmag.com/Issue01_April_06/larp_magazine_newsletter_volume02.htm#Section%20IX.%20%20%20%20%20%20%20The%20History%20of%20UK%20LARP,%20Written%20By%20Nathan%20Hook 
  26. ↑ "Free Form Role-Playing". Arcanacon I - 83 handbook (Arcanacon) 1: 10. http://www.arcanacon.org/1983/page10.html. Retrieved on 2007-10-21. "...in the pioneering freeform tournament at Canberra Games Convention '83 participating players were members of the crew of the ship 'Sarten Valador'... rather than sitting around a table... the players move about the game environment...". 
  27. ↑ Appelcline, Shannon (2007-02-01). "A Brief History of Game #11: WHITE WOLF, PART ONE: 1986-1995" (HTML). RPGnet website. Skotos Tech. Retrieved on 2007-11-03.
  28. ↑ Ryan S. Dancey (February 7, 2000). "Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs)". Wizards of the Coast. Retrieved on 2007-02-23. "According to a 1999 survey in the United States 6% of 12 to 35 year olds had played role-playing games. Half of these had played a live action roleplaying game."
  29. ↑ (Tychsen et al. 2006:258) "Today, LARPing is a widespread hobby, especially within the United States and Europe, and caters to at least 100,000 players worldwide ... Professional, full-time LARP sites also exist ... a small industry has grown-up supplying latex weapons, costumes, theater props, and special effects, and numerous special effects and make-up artists work in the LARP environment for training purposes."
  30. ↑ Fatland, Eirik (2003). "Knutepunkt and Nordic Live Role-playing: a crash course" (PDF). Dissecting larp. Knudepunkt 2003. Retrieved on 2007-07-29.
  31. ↑ "About the IFGS". International Fantasy Gaming Society. Archived from the original on 2007-12-08. Retrieved on 2007-12-08.
  32. ↑ Markus, Montola; Jaakko Stenros (2008). "Introduction". in Markus Montola, Jaakko Stenros. Playground Worlds. Ropecon ry. ISBN 978-952-92-3579-7. "The third and youngest design ideal is pervasive larp. These games blur the line between larp and life as the game spills onto the streets. The whole world becomes a playground...". 
  33. ↑ Markus, Montola (2007-09-24). "Tangible Pleasures of Pervasive Role-Playing" (PDF). Baba, Akira Proceedings of DiGRA 2007 Situated Play conference: 178-185, The University of Tokyo. Retrieved on [[2008-06-04]]. "Alternate reality gaming is the most widely established subgenre of pervasive gaming, but others are evolving as well." 
  34. ↑ "According to the survey, 8% of children had participated in role-playing events in nature during the last month... The Danish larp scene is... dominated by large fantasy and medieval games and campaigns" Morten, Gade (2005). "Danish larp by numbers" (PDF). Dissecting larp. Knudepunkt 2005. Retrieved on 2007-07-29.
  35. ↑ (Tychsen et al. 2006:258) "Exclusively, the large LARPs with hundreds or more players are set in fantasy/medieval world settings, which is the historic genre for LARPs."
  36. ↑ (Russo & Heinig 1996)

References

External links